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New Scientist Live

Sunken tanker could leak oil for years

By Emma Young

Oil could leak from the sunken tanker Prestige until 2006, says the Spanish government’s team of scientific advisors.

Using the data and images gathered by a mini-submarine, the team estimate that 125 tonnes are escaping each day from at least nine holes in the wreck. At that rate, “it would take between a minimum of five and a maximum of 39 months to empty the tanks,” Emilio Lora-Tamayo, head of the scientific committee, told Reuters.

“When it comes to the flow, estimates are that there are some 80 tonnes per day leaking from the bow and around 45 tonnes from the stern,” said deputy prime minister, Mariano Rajoy.

On Tuesday, prime minister Jose Maria Aznar admitted on national television that the government might have made errors in its handling of the Prestige after the tanker was first holed on 13 November.

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“It’s possible we made errors. But we’ve made every effort humanly possible to confront a tragedy and a catastrophe we’ve never yet known in our country – one no country is prepared for,” he said.

Request refused

Spain and Portugal refused a request by salvage company Smit to drag the stricken tanker from gale force conditions at sea to a harbour, where the oil could more easily be removed. The tanker then broke in two in continuing bad weather, as Smit was dragging her south in search of calmer waters.

Oil spilt from the tanker has washed up on long stretches of beach, and more than 900 kilometres of Spain’s northwest coastline is now closed to fishing, due the pollution.

The two halves of the wreck are now lying almost four kilometres apart, 3600 metres below the surface. An estimated 50,000 to 60,000 of the original 77,000 tons of oil remain in the ship’s tanks.

Lora-Tamayo’s team will advise the government on what could be done to stop the leaks. The two main options are to pump the oil from the wreck using rig equipment, or to drop slabs of metal over the holes in an attempt to seal them.